Peanut Butter and Cracker Ice Cream Sandwiches

Does September (or the end of August if you are from these parts) feel more like the beginning of a new year…  a true fresh start…more so than the first of January?  Perhaps it is how a new school year coincides with a progression of seasons.  There is a noticeable shift in the universe.  A change that makes me start itching to start new projects and stick to resolutions or heck, even make them.  So much more than January.  Motivation that is almost overwhelming and unavoidable in September is nonexistent and buried beneath layers of sweatshirts and socks and mittens in January.  And about 2 feet of snow.

The anticipation of a new school year and all it entails – new classes, friends, notebooks, pens, teachers, hallways, etc –  I am not sure will ever leave my flesh and bones.  It is integrated.  It is part of who I am.  This year marks seven years since my last first day of school and as August comes to a close and kids are standing at bus stops in the early morning hours, I continue to be filled with this sense of hope.

It is nice.

With school days on the brain … I figured we would concentrate on the famed after-school snack.   My brothers and I were always the last ones off the bus and as we darted toward the house, one of us would run around to the back door, which with a good hip thrust, would fly open and go crashing into the dog cage sitting just behind the door.  Poor Winston.  The first one in would unlock the front door and then we would descend upon the kitchen.  Nothing stood a chance.   Ice cream was a favorite but a rarity and leftovers from the previous nights dinner were equally sought after.  I, however, always enjoyed the dependable peanut butter and crackers.

Today, we are putting a bit of a spin on those peanut butter and crackers that I still enjoy after work, when I enter the house famished – as if I didn’t eat breakfast, lunch, or 6 miniature Snicker bars (we are talking the one inch by one inch unfun-fun size bars) throughout the day –  and ready to eat a horse.  How european of me.   Peanut butter ice cream, Ritz (or any sturdy butter cracker), dark chocolate, and a bit of assembly will save a horse and satisfy any post school/work craving.

The ultimate after school snack, especially when the temperatures still scream summer yet we are clambering off of school buses and the calendar shows a new school year is just beginning.